Jerry’s buys three Cub Foods locations

Jerry’s Enterprises has agreed to buy three Cub Foods stores in the Twin Cities area from UNFI as Cub has continued to struggle.

Edina, Minn.-based Jerry’s, which is Cub Foods’ largest franchisee, operates about two dozen stores under the Jerry’s Foods and Cub Foods banners, mostly in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

“Jerry’s has a proven track record of operating high-performing Cub stores and delivering a great experience for shoppers, and this transition will allow for continued investment in these locations while supporting Cub’s efforts to build a stronger, more competitive network across Minnesota,” Cub Foods said in a statement provided to Supermarket News.

The three stores that Jerry’s is acquiring will remain under the Cub Foods banner, Cub said.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

In its fiscal third quarter earnings call with analysts, UNFI said its retail sales, which also include the Shoppers Food banner in the Mid-Atlantic, were down about 10% compared with a year ago, primarily due to store closures. Same-store sales were down 4%.

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Giorgio Tarditi, president and chief financial officer of UNFI, said the company saw “some sequential improvement in Cub’s food-driven same-store sales,” however.

Last year UNFI tapped Target and Coborn’s veteran David Best as president and chief operating officer of its retail division, signaling its intention to turn around the retail business.

However, soon afterwards UNFI said it would close four of its Shoppers Food stores in Maryland, after previously selling off several other Shopper locations.

UNFI acquired the Cub Foods and Shoppers banners as part of its 2018 purchase of Supervalu and reportedly had planned to divest all of them before it reversed course and decided to invest in maintaining a retail presence.